Written by

Michael Doughty

Editor's Note: The month of February is designated as American Heart Month and is aimed at increasing awareness that heart disease is the nation's No. 1 killer, claiming more lives than all the forms of cancer.

In 2009 Megan-Ashley Heiserman was a happy, physically fit homemaker trying to become a mother who never would have guessed heart disease would rock the foundation of her Shreveport family to the core.

Her family had no history of heart disease, but five years before , at age 21, Heiserman was diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope, a symptom of which includes regular fainting spells ...